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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · season · court · fine · ruler · capital · press · trunk

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. press — a publisher
  4. capital — money
  5. press — to push
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. fine — high quality
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fine — all right
  14. court — for sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. season — in sport
  17. capital — a city
  18. court — of law
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. press — newspapers
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. court — of a king

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com